Motorway rape case: Key suspect Abid Malhi sent to jail on judicial remand

(Karachi) An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore has sent prime accused in Motorway rape case Abid Malhi to jail on 14 days judicial remand, media reported on Tuesday.

As per details, Malhi was produced before the ATC amid tight security. SP CIA Asim Iftikhar presented the initial investigation report of the case in the court.

After hearing arguments, the ATC ordered to send the suspect to jail on 14 days judicial remand.

ATC extends Shafqat's remand

The ATC also extended the physical remand of another key suspect in motorway gang-rape, Shafqat Ali, for 14 days.

ATC judge Arshad Hussain Bhatta heard the case and extended Shafqat Ali’s remand for 14 days in the Lahore motorway gang rape case. The court has ordered police to present the accused before it on October 28.

The background

On October 13, Abid Malhi was arrested from Faisalabad. Another suspect, Shafqat, was arrested earlier and is in jail on judicial remand after confessing to committing the crime.

As part of the operation, Malhi's wife was given a SIM which she used to call him.

The accused told his wife in one of his calls that he would meet her in Faisalabad. When the motorway rape suspect arrived in the city to meet her, he was arrested by police officials deputed on the spot in plain clothes.

During interrogation, Abid Malhi transpired that he and Shafqat robbed two to three truck drivers near Karol village on the Motorway, before they sexually assaulted the victim.

He told investigators that the car's flashing indicators caught his attention and upon seeing a woman inside, he asked her to come out of the vehicle. He added when the woman refused to come out of the car, he broke the vehicle's window and dragged her outside.

He maintained that after robbing the woman of her valuables, they told her to accompany them into the forested area but the woman refused to do so. Malhi disclosed that they took her children off the motorway and the woman followed to protect them.

He said when they went down, he and Shafqat took the victim into the bushes and gang-raped her. The suspect revealed that he and his accomplice fled when the Dolphin Police force arrived and fired shots into the air.